1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to bra liners. In particular the invention relates to bra liners for use by nursing mothers to prevent unwanted leakage of breast milk. The invention has a multilayered design including a non-permeable layer for preventing transfer of breast milk from the liner to clothing, an absorbent layer for holding the milk within the liner and a wicking layer to draw the liquid away from the breast and into the absorbing layer. A non-permeable layer is also disposed about the outer periphery of the liner so that a reservoir is formed between the outer surface non-permeable layer and the layer on the periphery for retaining excess milk. The design of the invention may incorporate cutouts along the periphery of the liner which allow the pad to more easily conform to the shape of a breast. An adhesive may be applied to the outer portion of the liner to hold the liner in place in the users bra cup. An adhesive may also be used to hold the liner to the users breast.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices for preventing breast milk leakage from contacting and seeping into and through clothing are currently available on the market. Generally, these devices fall into two broad categories: nursing or breast pads and nursing or protective brassieres. These two broad categories each comprise two general sub-categories, reusable pads and disposable pads, and, unitary brassieres and brassieres having replaceable absorbent pads. Each of the devices currently comprising these categories suffers from at least one disadvantage, including low moisture absorbency, visibility of the device through the clothing, bulkiness, inability to keep the moisture of the breast milk away from both the skin and clothing, poor fit within the brassiere, failure to maintain the proper shape within the brassiere, and, lack of multiple sizes for accommodating women's differently sized breasts. In addition, most of the devices available on the market are flat and when placed on the breast, they tend to bunch up around the edges. Most commercially available devices also only hold about one ounce of milk, so they can soak through in a matter of minutes when used by a nursing woman. Currently available devices also slide around easily within the brassiere and get out of position inside.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,536 issued to Madden, et al., discloses a disposable bra liner comprising three cup-shaped coextensive layers attached together with each layer presenting a circular periphery. The first layer is formed of a wicking material for wicking away moisture into the second absorbent layer which is attached to the outer surface of the first layer. The third moisture resistant layer is attached to the outer surface of the absorbent layer. The bra liners further include a structural member attached to the layers for maintaining the shape of the pad. The pad is shaped to fit on a particular shape breast. The structural member includes an elastic band attached to the layers at their peripheries and preferably has a plurality of spaced apart fold portions which taper inwardly from the band to present substantially V-shaped fold portion. Each layer preferably includes a plurality of similarly spaced fold apart portions formed therein. Fold apart portions allow the device to expand or be compressed to fit appropriately on any particular breast. The four layer construction is rather complicated. The complicated construction would result in a higher production cost of this device. Further, despite the V-shape fold portion which allow the device to extensively conform to different shape and size breasts, the device is limited in the range of sizes and shapes of breasts it could accommodate. Finally, the holding capacity of the device is limited to that of the absorbent layer. There is no provision for any reservoir or a device to hold excess fluids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,086 issued to Eggen for a nursing garment discloses a nursing garment including a vest which is attached to an undergarment which covers the upper torso of the nursing mother. The device is a complete garment which, although it could be styled to be worn during the day, appears to be designed to be worn by a nursing mother at night. It would not be possible to wear this device under other clothing. The device includes an under garment with a pair of openings through which the breast protrude to permit nursing of the baby. The garment also includes a pair of flaps which may be connected together to cover the breasts. A sheet of liquid impervious, air permeable material is attached to the rearward surface of each flap and oriented to cover the breast. A sheet of liquid and air permeable material is attached over each sheet in the rearward surface of the flap to form a pocket between the cover sheet and sheet on each flap. A pad of liquid absorbent material is removably inserted into each pocket to absorb liquid which may leak from the nursing mother's breast. As stated in the Summary of the Invention, it is the general object of this invention to provide a garment for nursing mothers which permits them to rest or sleep without wearing a maternity bra or gown or bodice which fastens like a bra.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,286 issued to Kielland discloses a breast pad having absorbent portions and shaping portions. The absorbent portions include a center portion and a plurality of radially extending lobes. The shaping portions include a plurality of triangular sections that extend radially inward from the perimeter of the body to the center portion. This device incorporates divisions to account for the fact that the beast is not flat. It is capable of being shaped to conform to a woman's breast. The device includes an absorbing portion with three layers: 1. Substantially waterproof outer layer, described as being a thin layer of plastic; 2. An absorbent material, described as preferably being a material such a polyacrylate filler; and, 3. A permeable layer, described as being wood fiber product material which is in contact with the breast. The two-part construction (ie., the absorbent portion and the shaping portion) makes this device somewhat complicated to manufacture. In addition, the device is limited by the holding capacity of the absorbent portion. There is no provision made for a reservoir to hold excess liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,228 issued to Weber-Unger discloses an absorbent pad for nursing brassieres. The device includes an extra thick lower portion disposed below the breast for providing additional storage capacity. The thicker lower portion would potentially present a problem with appearance, ie., the lower thicker portion would be apparent through clothing. In addition, the device does not include a waterproof material for preventing the liquid from leaking onto the wearer's clothing.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 246,729 issued to Murphy discloses an ornamental design for a combined breast shield and milk collector. As shown, the device appears to be a rigid device intended to allow for collection of breast milk. The device appears that it would be plainly visible under clothing, and would not allow for use outside of the home and without potential embarrassment to the user. As described, it appears to be a "breast milk collector". Hypothetically, the device could be used for collection of milk when the wearer is at home and does wish to use a pump. Since the patent is a design patent, there is very little description of the patent given. Accordingly, a primary object of the subject invention is to provide a disposable, multi-layer, bra liner for nursing women which includes a reservoir defined by an outer substantially waterproof layer and an inner substantially waterproof layer disposed about the periphery of the liner.